Rene Urtreger, born July 6, 1934, is a French bebop piano player. Urtreger was born and raised in Paris. He began piano lessons at age four. He continued his studies at the Conservatory of Classical Music during his teenage years. He was a jazz-oriented student and played in a Parisian club called the “Sully de Auteil”. The Sully, which was directed by Hubert Damisch, featured a talented orchestra that included Sacha Distel, Louis Viale, and others. He won the first prize in an amateur piano contest and decided that he wanted to become a professional musician. He was accompanied by two American ex-pats, Don Byas (saxophonist) and Buck Clayton (trumpeter). Their performance in “Salone du Jazz” was one of the most requested French performances by American musicians who toured France. Urtreger, who served in the military between 1955 and 1957, would play in a club along the Seine’s left bank, the “St Germain.” He also collaborated with Miles Davis (jazz master) and Lester Young (jazz master). Urtreger was so impressed by Young’s work that he accompanied him on a brief tour of Europe in 1956. He was part of Davis’s recording group that recorded the soundtrack to the movie Ascenseur pour l’echafaud in December 1957. Last.fm
